Leahy families given an extra two weeks to move

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Families forced to move from their homes off Summer Avenue are getting a little relief, but only temporarily. A judge granted an order allowing residents at Leahy’s Mobile Home Park an extra two weeks to get everything together.

It looks like a ghost town at Leahy's. The families still living there are scrambling to get permanent housing somewhere else. They have two weeks to pack up their lives and leave.

“It breaks my heart to discover I can pay for something, have papers on it and still lose it because of someone else's negligence, not mine,” said resident Ann Banks.

Banks moved in a year and a half ago and quickly paid off her mobile home. She had plans to move the trailer on a different property and add on to it.

“I wanted to make sure that my son didn't have to worry about where he would lay his head in the future,” said Banks.

But that dream of a legacy is now shattered, crushed after the landowner racked up a $51,000 utility bill and skipped out on it. Most of the families own the homes, but say they don't have the means to have them moved.

“The best you can do is sell these for scrap metal and that's not going to be a lot,” said director of Latino Memphis Mauricio Calvo.

Calvo says the ongoing battle with these Leahy families shows a bigger problem.

“Our call is for leaders, our city officials, to say enough is enough. Somebody has to look out for our low income families and come up with a better solution,” said Calvo.

This summer, Latino Memphis is helping families at two very different mobile home parks find better solutions to their housing.

In this sweltering Southern summer heat, families say their battle is even tougher.

“There's not a lot we can do, but move on and start rebuilding and see how far we can make it,” said Banks.

Tuesday, MLGW accidentally cut off the power at the complex. The utility company is investigating to see how that happened.